Diwali

Hinduism 

For Hindus, Diwali welcomes in the New Year and symbolises the defeat of the darkness that engulfs the light of knowledge.
The festival was originally held to honour the return of Lord Rama and his family back to their kingdom in Ayodhya after his years of absence fighting the demon king of Sri Lanka. As they returned home at night, people lit oil lamps to guide their way. For these reasons, homes and businesses are decorated with lights at this time of year. Diwali can fall at the end of October or the start of November because it is celebrated on Amavasa, the 15th day of the dark fortnight (new moon) of the Hindu month Kartika.

Hindu celebrations stretch over five days:
Day One – Lakshmi Pooja: On the first day of celebration, homes are cleaned in order to welcome the Goddess Lakshmi. They are then decorated with lamps, mango leaves and marigolds around the doorways and gifts are given in the family.

Day Two – Naraka Chatrudashi: On this day, there is a focus on abolishing evil and the Goddess Kali is worshipped. 

Day Three – Diwali Day: This is the end of the Hindu year and is celebrated by lighting lamps in the home and fireworks displays. 

Day Four – Nutan Varsh: This day is the start of the Hindu New Year. 

Day Five – Bhai bij or the Teeka Ceremony: This day is important to Hindus as it celebrates the relationship between brothers and sisters.

Jainism

Jainism is one of India’s most ancient religions. It was revived by Bhagwan Mahavir, who organised the teachings in their current form. Jainism teaches the path of non-violence towards all living beings and attempts to explain the meaning of life and the purpose of existence.
Diwali is celebrated by the Jains as it is the day that Lord Mahavir attained moksa – this is believed to be the final liberation of the soul, which brings an end to all of the suffering that is attached to being caught in the repeated cycle of death and rebirth. For Jains, Diwali commemorates this permanent happiness of the soul. Leicester boasts the largest Jain temple in England.

Sikhism

Bandhi Chhorr Divas

For Sikhs, the story of Diwali, or ‘Bandhi Chhorr Divas,’ is a story of the struggle for freedom. Concerned by the growing power of Sikhism in India, the mogul emperor Jahingir devised a plan to imprison the 6th Sikh Guru, Guru Hargobind Ji. Guru Hargobind Ji was held for 40 days at the Gwalior Fortress with fifty two Hindu Rajas (Kings) who were deprived of their kingdoms and badly treated in the fortress. Seeing this, Guru Ji shared all of his rations with the Hindu Rajas and survived on very little himself. Outside the fortress, many influential people and Holy Men were outraged with the actions of the mogul emperor, including the highly regarded Muslim holy man Hazarat Mian Mir, who demanded Guru Ji should be released immediately. The emperor agreed to this but Guru Ji refused to leave on his own, stating that he would only leave if the 52 Rajas were also set free. After being told that only those who could hold onto the Guru Ji’s robe would be released, Guru Ji had a special robe made with 52 Khalia (tapers) so that each of the Rajas could walk free with him.

The release of Guru Ji and the Hindu Rajas coincided with Diwali Day - this is why Sikhs celebrate the day. Guru Ji was named ‘Bandhi Chhorr’, the deliverer of prisoners. Sikh’s celebrate in Amritsar (Golden Temple) by lighting candles on the sacred water that surrounds the temple, called the sarowar. Out of love and respect for the Guru Ji, this tradition continues today. Sikhs around the world celebrate
in Gurdwaras (temples).

Jainism

Jainism believes that universe and all its substances or entities are eternal. It has no beginning or end with respect to time. Universe runs own its own accord by its own cosmic laws. All the substances change or modify their forms continuously. Nothing can be destroyed or created in the universe. There is no need of some one to create or manage the affairs of the universe. Hence Jainism does not believe in God as a creator, survivor, and destroyer of the universe. However Jainism does believe in God, not as a creator, but as a perfect being. 

When a person destroys all his karmas, he becomes a liberated soul. He lives in a perfect blissful state in Moksha forever. The liberated soul possesses infinite knowledge, infinite vision, infinite power, and infinite bliss. This living being is a God of Jain religion. Every living being has a potential to become God. Hence Jains do not have one God, but Jain Gods are innumerable and their number is continuously increasing as more living beings attain liberation. 

Jains believe that since the beginning of the time every living being (soul) is attached with karma and also it is in delusion (ignorant) state of its true nature. The main purpose of the religion is to remove this delusion through self-knowledge and self-effort. This knowledge will remove karma which are associated with it from the beginning of time. When all karma get removed, the soul becomes liberated soul.

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Satan

Satan - What the Scriptures Teach

Human philosophy and theology have not offered a better explanation of the origin of evil than that given in the Bible. What the Scriptures say about Satan is fundamental to understanding the origin of evil and of human suffering, as well as why the worst imaginable violence gets worse each year.

Some may ask: 'If God is the good and loving Creator, how could he create a wicked spirit creature like Satan?' The Bible lays down the principle that all of Jehovah God's works are perfect and that all of his intelligent creatures are endowed with free will. (Deuteronomy 30:19; 32:4; Joshua 24:15; 1 Kings 18:21) The spirit person who became Satan must, therefore, have been created perfect and must have deviated from the way of truth and righteousness by deliberate choice.—John 8:44;James 1:14, 15.

In many ways, Satan's rebellious course parallels that of "the king of Tyre," who was described poetically as "perfect in beauty" and 'faultless in his ways from the day of his being created until unrighteousness was found in him.' (Ezekiel 28:11-19) Satan did not contest Jehovah's supremacy or his Creatorship. How could he, since he had been created by God? Satan did, however, challenge the way Jehovah was exercising his sovereignty. In the garden of Eden, Satan insinuated that God was depriving the first human couple of something to which they had a right and upon which their well-being depended. (Genesis 3:1-5) He succeeded in causing Adam and Eve to rebel against Jehovah's righteous sovereignty, bringing sin and death upon them and their descendants. (Genesis 3:6-19;Romans 5:12) Thus the Bible shows that Satan is the root cause of human suffering.

Sometime before the Flood, other angels joined Satan in his rebellion. They materialized in human bodies to satisfy their cravings for sexual pleasures with the daughters of men. (Genesis 6:1-4) At the Flood, these renegade angels returned to the spirit realm but not to their "original position" with God in heaven. (Jude 6) They were abased to a condition of dense spiritual darkness. (1 Peter 3:19, 20; 2 Peter 2:4) They became demons, no longer serving under Jehovah's sovereignty but living in subjection to Satan. While apparently unable to materialize again, the demons can still exercise great power over the minds and lives of humans, and they are doubtless responsible for much of the violence we are witnessing today.—Matthew 12:43-45; Luke 8:27-33.